StaceyLynn
In the Brooder
So, I've hatched my first run of incubator chicks. I thought I had prepared. I thought I had researched enough. And here I am not knowing WHAT in the world is going on!
So, the first chick hatched late yesterday. It was fluffy and active in just a couple hours, but all the other eggs were pipping and I understood that the incubator was NOT to be opened during this time. I got up this morning and all the rest had hatched, but every single one of them were soaking wet, or so it looked, including the first. I couldn't see through the incubator sides, there was so much condensation, so I opened the vent to allow some humidity to escape and went on to work. I figured they'd be at least semi-fluffy when i got back, but they hadn't changed a bit, and two chicks were face down in the floor with the others walking on them.
After some research, I found that some chicks have albumen on them with high humidity cases, and they should be washed off. So I carefully fixed some water in a pan and washed them, dried them quickly and put them in the little brooder I made for them. Now, I'm worried sick because I don't know what the temperature is! I've got a digital oral thermometer I've been using, putting it underneath the chicks, but as might be expected, I'm getting wildly varying temps, from 90 to 99, and everywhere in between. I've adjusted the light every way I know how, and looks like I'll be up all night checking on them!!
After the washing, most chicks have fluffed up for the most part, with some stickiness still on the head and sides of the head, and a few odds and ends places. Two of them are walking around, inquisitive, eating and pecking at things, but the others are not. They are somewhat lively when I pick them up, but they aren't moving around. Two are extremely lethargic, haven't walked at all, since hatching, have no fluffy down anywhere on their bodies, and I fear they won't make it through the night :-( I know, and even told my children, it's not likely that all would make it because that's just nature, but I wasn't ready to actually walk through that. Ugh... i don't know if I'll have the heart to hatch any more, if any of these make it. After my husband passed in March of this year, I just stopped living for a long time. I've been trying to get back into the things WE had planned on doing, and this was one of them, but... I don't know. Maybe I'm just not ready.
At any rate... my main concern is the temperature in that little brooder, which I made out of a plastic tote. I just currently have some puppy pads in the bottom with a few pieces of scrap material from my sewing room for them to huddle against. there's also a small flat container of crumble and another with water. The lamp is about 2 to 3 feet away from them. Could their lethargic attitudes be because they are too hot or too cold? I'm super worried that anything I do and everything I've already done is wrong!
Thanks so much if you've read this far! And forgive my drawn out whining, lol. This is the first place I've talked this much since losing my husband, lol, even in person! And thanks in advance for any advice offered. I already feel at home here!
Stacey~
So, the first chick hatched late yesterday. It was fluffy and active in just a couple hours, but all the other eggs were pipping and I understood that the incubator was NOT to be opened during this time. I got up this morning and all the rest had hatched, but every single one of them were soaking wet, or so it looked, including the first. I couldn't see through the incubator sides, there was so much condensation, so I opened the vent to allow some humidity to escape and went on to work. I figured they'd be at least semi-fluffy when i got back, but they hadn't changed a bit, and two chicks were face down in the floor with the others walking on them.
After some research, I found that some chicks have albumen on them with high humidity cases, and they should be washed off. So I carefully fixed some water in a pan and washed them, dried them quickly and put them in the little brooder I made for them. Now, I'm worried sick because I don't know what the temperature is! I've got a digital oral thermometer I've been using, putting it underneath the chicks, but as might be expected, I'm getting wildly varying temps, from 90 to 99, and everywhere in between. I've adjusted the light every way I know how, and looks like I'll be up all night checking on them!!
After the washing, most chicks have fluffed up for the most part, with some stickiness still on the head and sides of the head, and a few odds and ends places. Two of them are walking around, inquisitive, eating and pecking at things, but the others are not. They are somewhat lively when I pick them up, but they aren't moving around. Two are extremely lethargic, haven't walked at all, since hatching, have no fluffy down anywhere on their bodies, and I fear they won't make it through the night :-( I know, and even told my children, it's not likely that all would make it because that's just nature, but I wasn't ready to actually walk through that. Ugh... i don't know if I'll have the heart to hatch any more, if any of these make it. After my husband passed in March of this year, I just stopped living for a long time. I've been trying to get back into the things WE had planned on doing, and this was one of them, but... I don't know. Maybe I'm just not ready.
At any rate... my main concern is the temperature in that little brooder, which I made out of a plastic tote. I just currently have some puppy pads in the bottom with a few pieces of scrap material from my sewing room for them to huddle against. there's also a small flat container of crumble and another with water. The lamp is about 2 to 3 feet away from them. Could their lethargic attitudes be because they are too hot or too cold? I'm super worried that anything I do and everything I've already done is wrong!
Thanks so much if you've read this far! And forgive my drawn out whining, lol. This is the first place I've talked this much since losing my husband, lol, even in person! And thanks in advance for any advice offered. I already feel at home here!
Stacey~
